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We are pleased to announce the annual Zeissimages.com photography contest in collaboration with our sponsor Zeiss, photography division.

As in previous years, our contests begin in the fall and run through December so that the winner can enjoy their prize during the holiday seasons.

The contest is open to members of Zeissimages.com starting on Oct 4th 2023. If you are not currently a member, you can join for free.

This year there will be no specific theme in general. However, you could say we are looking for that "Wow!" factor. Whether it be landscape, portrait, street or studio. We are looking for that image that keeps you coming back to view over and over.


The winner may have their choice of the one lens from the following list which will be provided and shipped directly from our sponsor Zeiss.

• Zeiss Batis
• Zeiss Touit
• Zeiss Milvus
• Zeiss ZM (21mm f2.8, 25mm f2.8, 28mm f2.8, 35mm f2, 35mm f2.8, 50mm f1.5 or 50mm f2)

Good luck !

Full details here https://www.zeissimages.com/messageboard/37

Today, I picked up the new 50mm f1.0 Voigtlander. What a sexy beast😏

Whats the problem? Some of my images show the wrong camera and lens combo was used to make the photo. I don't own any of that gear! And it has happened before on other images I have posted.

I am so stoked about the new ZF. I can't wait for my ZF in black to arrive. I think this will be one of those game changing cameras in todays digital world. So much so that today I have created nikon-zf.com just for the ZF series cameras.

I am jealous of those who have theirs already. Otherwise, I would be posting my own ZF pictures. So. I humbly ask that if you own a ZF and wouldn't mind sharing a few pictures on www.nikon-zf.com please do. This is day 1 and there is nothing for me to share yet

If you are a blogger, reviewer or run a store that sells camera lenses consider becoming a sponsor and taking advantage of the crosslink feature.

The crosslink features lets you direct traffic to your site specific page based on the lens you cross link. For example, if you wrote a review or are blogging about the Zeiss 50mm Makro Planar you would create a crosslink to your page about the lens. When someone views a photo taken with linked lens, they will see an info box that states "Learn more about this lens from our sponsor". Your name will be listed as a clickable link that directs the user to the page you setup.

Have a look at this photo:

https://www.zeissimages.com/photo/500487 and you will see a crosslink in action.

You can also direct it to your store as well. Like in this photo:

https://www.leicaimages.com/photo/403580

Send us an email and we will get you set up!

What are your thoughts on my story: To X-pan or not. That is the question ... I just published? Would love to hear your feedback.

As you may or may not recall, Voigtlanderimages.com was originally dedicated to host images taken with Voigtlander / Cosina lenses. There were quite a few members sharing their work on the site. The one day it was removed by mistake along with its backup. Ever since it has been non existent. However, just recently I managed to find some old backups and together with some Sherlock Holmesing , I put together what I think we had before using creds from ag2si.

See if you can login and if you come across any issues let me know so I can address them.

JT

Just submitted a photo story about Portland on Nikonimages.com

Have a look here

https://www.nikonimages.com/showstory.php?storyid=4

I was trying, unsuccessfully to log into zeissimages website. The log-in tag is grayed out. Too bad, as I wanted to post there some images...

These are some of my favorite photos although there are many more.

here is one.



The rest can be seen here:

https://www.ag2si.com/gallerysoft/favorite-photos/1

Been making changes to gallery side of the site. If you see any quirky behavior, please let me know in this message.

This is an old revived posting I made years ago.

Ever since I have been shooting with Sony, my go to 50’s have typically been the Zeiss 55 FE or the Zeiss 50 A with the LAEA4 adapter. Today I dug up a lens that’s been in storage for a while. A beautiful Leica 50mm limited edition LHSA summilux. There is no denying Leica produces some of the most beautiful glass. So why not shoot it with the Sony? Well, That’s just what I did I am here to provide you some feedback on the lens and it’s performance on the A7II.



Overall, this lens is a gem to hold. It truly is a fine example of engineering and presentation. The feel of the lens in hand is simply comforting. Mounted on the A7II with a Fotodiox Pro adapter, the lens looks quite small but don’t let that fool you. It is a solid heavy lens that forces the camera to tip when placed on a flat surface.

Focusing the lens manually is quite enjoyable. With focus peak turned on, it really is safe to say that on the Sony, the peaking confirmation is very accurate. However, this lens is no match for the Zeiss Loxia when it comes to focus smoothness. The Zeiss is buttery smooth with absolutely no hesitation or interruptions while you turn that barrel. On the other hand, the Leica feels dry and lacks that graceful lens rotation you get with the Loxia. That is really surprising considering the Leica is a $6000.00 lens and the Zeiss a $900.00 lens.

The lens is razor sharp and renders beautifully. It delivers a beautiful bokeh that is subtle and pleasant to view. It’s diaphragm although not perfectly circular is round enough to render out of focus highlights magically.




I wish the lens had better close range focusing. There are situations when you feel you need to be really close to your subject but are just a few inches too far. Other lenses without being of macro design focus a lot closer.



I do find that compared to the Zeiss Loxia or my other Zeiss lenses, the contrast is not as vivid or snappy for my taste. It is very flat and needs some post processing to bring it to life. However, this type of rendering is great for people shots and is very classic Leica.

The aperture ring sits on the front of the lens and is easily rotated. In fact, it is so easy to rotate you could accidentally turn it with minimal effort.

Overall, I find this lens to be superb with beautiful color and rendering, although a bit flat for my taste. The A7II and the 50 Summilux is great combo for those users moving from rangefinder cameras to mirror less cameras. Yes RF cameras are mirror less cameras too but you know what I mean. The A7II and 50 lux is an ideal combination for street photography which carry’s over the pleasure of shooting discretely with a rangefinder camera.





Ag2Si - Silver to Silicon | Photos by dierk
https://www.ag2si.com/gallerysoft/member-photos/3467

Ag2Si - Silver to Silicon | Photos by oddgeir
https://www.ag2si.com/gallerysoft/member-photos/684

Ag2Si - Silver to Silicon | Photos by mitresg
https://www.ag2si.com/gallerysoft/member-photos/3134

If you wanted to style some of your messages, posts, comments etc, here are a few tips.



Place your text between

[b] for bold [/b]

[code] to display code block [/code]

[quote] to quote some text [/quote]

[i] for italics [/i]

[u] to underline [/u]

[s] to strike through [/s]

[pc] to center align text in a paragraph [/pc]

[pl] to left align text in a paragraph [/pl]

[pr] to right align text in a paragraph [/pr]

[size=18] to set the font size in pixels [/size]

[color=red] to set the font color [/color]

To show an unordered list like

• Ford
• Chevy
• Jeep

Use the following

[ulist]
[*] Ford
[*] Chevy
[*] Jeep
[/ulist]

To Show an ordered list like

1 Ford
2 Chevy
3 Jeep

Use the following

[olist]
[*] Ford
[*] Chevy
[*] Jeep
[/olist]

Creating a story still lets you present your a photographic story using your photos from the gallery. The process is quite simple.

Go to your dashboard and click on Manage stories from the Manage options menu on the left. Or, use the top menu under Stories.

If you do not have any stories started yet, you will get a message. Simply click on the Add a new story button to create a story.

Give the story a title and some content in the form that you see. Then click on Submit new story.

Don't worry. Its not published yet.

Now add the photos you wish to include in your story by clicking on the Add photos link on the manage your story page. Clicking on this link brings you into the familiar edit edit photo options you have already used before. All your photos will be displayed in order to assign them to stories. However, to minimize clutter, only the Stories option is available. Your are simply selecting the pictures you wish to include in your story at this time.

Just make sure to click on Apply edits under each photo to save your changes. If you want to make changes afterwards, just refresh the page.

Done adding photos to your story? Just click on Manage stories from the top menu and you will be back at the basic story management menu.

You will now see Edit photos link instead of the Add photos link.

Click on it and from, there add the content you want to display for each photo, set the display order or remove photos from the story.

As you hover over each photo, the edit options will appear. Just make changes and click on Submit edits.

Use the Display order field to set the order in which the photos appear. 1 would be at the top, followed by 2, etc ... If you messed up and want to stick another picture between 1 and 2, give it a display order of something like 1.5.

Also you can use any number values, you can start with 10, and increment to 20 or 25 ot whatever. Just remember the display order in the story is based on the numeric value you assign.

If you check the Publish checkbox, and apply changes, your story will be published and visible to others.

To view stories, simply click on Stories from the top menu. Click on the title of a story to view the story.

Layout of the images on the story are balanced between left and right of the page. This is automatically done for you and you have no control over that.

Here is an example of a story on www.leicaimages.com .

https://www.leicaimages.com/showstory.php?storyid=1

Ever wanted to replace a photo with a better quality version of it or higher resolution without losing links, views, likes, comments etc... ? Well now you can. I added the ability to replace an image.

Simply click the edit options for the image and Follow the link under the "Replace image" option.

Thats's right. Free classifieds for the time being. No fees. Take advantage and post your ads now. Time to sell some of that gear you don't use anymore.

Going back to the individual sites. The consolidation was not very succesfull.

I will be the first to admit it. The consolidation of the websites has failed miserably. It is painful for me to admit it, but I am a realist.

Members have made it clear they like the old individual sites better with a dedicated website for them and a place to share their pictures. Having said that, I have brought Nikonimages.com , Leicimages.com and Zeissimages.com back from the dead on their own sites.

I have added a few features but pretty much its the way it use to be.

JT